For me that's one of the selling points. Modern life is so ridiculously over engineered to be comfortable, we can all use some rough edges.
Much less so on a Tuesday night after a stressful day and your goddamn window won't close even though it's raining and you can't play music because the stereo only takes cassettes and you're not gonna listen to that one fucking Hall and Oates tape again and there's no heat and your neck is sore because the headrest is made of plastic and....
Creature comforts are most important when you're not thinking about them. I don't ever want to get in my car and think, "ah, this is what it means to be human! this is REAL!"
I think there is a romaniticization of suffering. I also wanted to show my merit, my worth in some way. I had grown up in a very cushy environment, and I was trying to prove something.
Going back in time I would advise anyone against your belief. Anyone who reads this, please don't make the mistake of living a rough life for whatever inane purpose you can think of. It will not make you a better person. It is as stupid as it sounds.
It always warms my heart to see my fellow citizens in one of the wealthiest societies in the world, walking and biking to work in the rain and wind that is Danish winter. Or when you go to the beach when the water is 12 degrees and there are already families there, splashing around. That fills me with hope.
Driving a climate controlled car 3 blocks to the shop is not the pinnacle of civilisation.
In what way scientifically speaking does biking specifically in the rain make you a "better person"? Biking can definitely help with your health and is certainly a good way to get around, but the rain can obstruct your vision and could cause your breaks to lock up if you had to stop suddenly.
That’s why people brag about waking up at five and hiking up a mountain before breakfast, and that’s why we have all those sayings, which obviously don’t apply to heart attacks.
But maybe it’s a cultural thing, it seems a lot of Americans aren’t ashamed of driving 3 blocks to the store to get milk.
It is just that from personal experience, a road trip with small children has enough rough edges that road/engine noise so loud that the kids can't sleep does not have to be one of them...